The Truth About Real Estate Courses and Classes
I am a Real Estate Investor. I have personally purchased properties in 3 states, controlled millions of dollars of real estate and have brought entire portfolios with no money down.
I have also invested thousands of dollars into advertised real estate courses and can honestly say, most of the courses and "mentoring" arrangements I have been involved in have not made me one dime.
This is what I see. Someone gets on TV and advertises how you can buy real estate with no money, no experience and no credit. You can go from nothing to a millionaire in a short period of time and all you need is knowledge. Once you learn how to do you can become like the many "gurus" who are sharing their wealth of knowledge with you.
It really bothers me to see so many people duped into believing that you can build a successful business of real estate investing by going to a course, getting a bunch of material for thousands of dollars and become an instant success. From one investor who has lost more from buying that stuff that he would care to admit I want to leave you with a few nuggets to consider;
It is not possible to build a successful business with no money, no credit and no experience - look at any business you want to and if you examine what it took to start the business and what it took to grow it to being successful I guarantee you someone had some money, could access good credit from somewhere if needed and had to learn their business in order to make it work. More than 50% of the businesses that start today will fail within the first few years and that is mainly due to "managerial incompetence." Yes, you need a dream to begin a vision. But remember that the world is full of smart people who know how to separate the foolish from their money. So look really hard at the history of how business was built before you go to spending all your money on some seminar.
Most gurus tell you they use private money. But none tell you where or who their private money source is. Some show you how to raise your own (by finding someone with cash who will invest in your property). Private lenders lend based on a relationship with the borrower. If you do not have a relationship with them they won't lend to you.
Many of these courses focus on the fact that the purchasers of their programs don't know how this business really works. Get some books on real estate and begin reading for yourself. Talk to other investors for ideas. Stop thinking you can spend a few thousand dollars and end up rich. That is not the norm, only the exception.
Be wise. Grow your business and keep your hard earned money. You deserve it.
